HEBREWS 12:18-29 - Trembling at the Voice

Introduction

By this time most everyone here has had a chance to see the new carpeting in the downstairs fellowship hall, right? It’s one more example of God’s goodness to us that He has enabled us to make these kinds of improvements and upgrades to our church facility, and we are particularly grateful to all the work that our stewardship team is putting into caring for our property and our resources.

I know a lot of people were looking forward to the carpet in the basement because it makes a difference in the way that sound echoes in the room—for a lot of folks, it was hard to hold conversations in that space because of all the echoes from so many people all talking at once. Trying to focus on one voice in a room echoing with forty or fifty other voices is difficult, to say the least!

I want to suggest that the day and age we live in is very much like living in an echoing basement—the sheer amount of noise that is generated by so many competing voices all talking (and, like as not these days, shouting) at one another makes it hard to make sense out of anything—particularly, it is harder and harder to hear the voice of God in our world. We are constantly shouted at, day by day, with clamoring voices all determined to be heard and affirmed and submitted to. This is why it is simply non-negotiable that we gather here in response to God’s call to worship Him: We need to hear His voice above the shouting of the mobs outside our doors.

And right at the outset, we need to define exactly what we are talking about when we refer to “hearing the voice of God”—we are not talking about some mystical experience where God “speaks” to us through some inner prompting, some spiritual intuition—nothing of what one former pastor at Bethel called “a quiver in your liver”. We are referring to the final, complete, authoritative, Spirit-breathed, utterly sufficient “enscripturated” Word of God contained in the 66 books of the Old and New Testament:

2 Timothy 3:16 (LSB)

All Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness,

When we refer to “hearing the voice of God” we are always and only referring to hearing Him speak through this Word.

It’s important to make this clear as we look to our text this morning, since these verses are full of references to “speaking” and “voices”—summed up in verse 25:

Hebrews 12:25 (LSB)

See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.

You’ll remember that the book of Hebrews was written to call wandering Christians back to their commitment to Christ; we just saw last week the warnings about rejecting God’s discipline and refusing to submit to His correction. This week that theme continues—do not refuse Him who speaks. Do not ignore the voice of God calling you back to faithfulness to Christ; do not decline His call to hold fast in faith to Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection as the final and complete atonement for your sins.

It’s no different in our day than it was then—we are surrounded by voices telling us that Christ can’t be trusted—that Christianity is at best a useful way to add some good traditional morality to your life; it helps you feel better about yourself and be a better person. At worst it is a mental illness that renders you utterly unfit for polite company and makes you into an immoral monster of bigotry and ignorance.

The voices around us are all shouting at us to be afraid of something—be afraid of COVID, be afraid of China, be afraid of Donald Trump, be afraid of the deep state, be afraid of Joe Biden getting re-elected, be afraid of Hamas, be afraid of the economy, be afraid of the Democrats—and on it goes.

The clamoring voices all around you in your life are all shouting at you to fear everything but God and trust anyone but Christ.

And every one of you have endured that onslaught of those voices all week long. Every one of us needs to come back to God’s Word and hear His voice calling us back to faithfulness. Every week we need to come back and renew our covenant vows before God, confessing our sins, being assured of His pardon through the work of Christ, committing ourselves again to holding fast without wavering to our confession of faith in Him.

So come away from the clamor of rival voices in our world, Christian, and

Heed the voice of God in His WORD with HOLY TREMBLING

Now, a person’s voice can sound very different, depending on what they have to say and the nature of their message, right? Kids, you know this, right? Your mom has one voice when she’s waking you up in the morning, and another voice for telling you that you still haven’t made your bed, right? Your dad has one voice for cheering you on in a sport, and another voice for instructing you about obeying your mother when she tells you to make your bed!

In the same way, the voice of God is described in this passage in at least three different ways—the writer of Hebrews is describing each of these “voices” of God so that his readers would not disregard His call to faithfulness to Christ:

Hebrews 12:25 (LSB)

See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking...

And so the first voice of God that this passage describes is

I. His unbearable voice of HOLINESS (Hebrews 12:18-21)

Hebrews 12:18–19 (LSB)

For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them.

For some reason our modern sensibilities think of the concept of “holiness” as something ethereal and insubstantial—sunbeams filtering through clouds to rest on a little old lady reading her Bible, stained glass windows and quiet sanctuaries.

But when God’s Word speaks of holiness, see here that

It speaks of DREAD (v. 18)

Blazing fire, darkness and gloom—holiness is the tornado hiding behind the storm wall bearing down on your house at midnight. Holiness is the wildfire roaring down the mountainside, the darkness shrouding the Mercy Seat in the midst of the Holy of Holies where the priest entered at risk of his own life. The writer goes on in verse 19 to say that the voice of God’s holiness was unbearable to the people at Mount Sinai because

It speaks of JUDGMENT (v. 19)

That’s what the images of verse 19 suggest:

Hebrews 12:19 (LSB)

and to the blast of a trumpet and the sound of words which was such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them.

Trumpets were symbols of war, symbols of the presence of royalty, signals for the people to be summoned into the presence of YHWH. In Revelation trumpets are tied to judgment falling on the earth:

Revelation 8:6–7 (LSB)

And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them. And the first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

The people, verse 19 says, were so unnerved and terrified at the voice of God’s holiness at Sinai that they “begged” that God would quit speaking to them. The holiness of God terrified them because verses 20-21 tell us that

It speaks of DEATH (v. 20-21)

Hebrews 12:20–21 (LSB)

For they could not bear what was being commanded, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned.” And so terrible was what appeared, that Moses said, “I am full of fear and trembling.”

The holiness of God is an implacable holiness—it is as unflinching as an avalanche, snuffing out the life of everyone and everything that crosses its path. This is the God Whose voice, as we read earlier

Psalm 29:5–9 (LSB)

The voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars; Indeed, Yahweh breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf, And Sirion like a young wild ox. The voice of Yahweh hews out flames of fire. The voice of Yahweh causes the wilderness to tremble; Yahweh causes the wilderness of Kadesh to tremble. The voice of Yahweh makes the deer to calve And strips the forests bare; And in His temple everything says, “Glory!”

The writer of Hebrews brings us to this vision of the terrifying, implacable, gloomy, unnerving holiness of God to remind us that this is the God that you serve, Christian! He has not changed, He has not diminished one whit of this holiness, it is still as immense, still as foreboding, still as unbearable today as it was on Mount Sinai.

But the difference for you is not that the unbearable voice of God’s holiness has ceased—but that He speaks to you with another voice:

II. His triumphant voice of ATONEMENT (Hebrews 12:22-24)

Christian, you have not come to the gloom and terror of Mount Zion:

Hebrews 12:22–23 (LSB)

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

The original recipients of this letter wanted to go back to the Old Covenant—they wanted to trade their atonement in Christ for the blood of bulls and goats offered in the gloom and trepidation found in the shadow of Mount Sinai—but in Christ, the triumphant voice of God speaks of our full atonement in Christ—it does not shout of our doom,

It speaks of FREEDOM (v. 22; cp. Gal. 4:26; Heb. 11:16; Phil. 3:20)

You have not come to the mountain of God’s terrifying, condemning Law—you have come to the dwelling place of God in His joy! Not the dwelling of the God of gloom and death, but the city of freedom from the Law of death. The apostle Paul reminds us in Galatians 4 that

Galatians 4:26 (LSB)

But the Jerusalem above is free; she is our mother.

This is the city that is your inheritance

Hebrews 11:16 (LSB)

But now, they aspire to a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He prepared a city for them.

This is the city of your citizenship

Philippians 3:20 (LSB)

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

The triumphant voice of atonement speaks of the freedom from death and the curse of the Law that you have in Christ, and in verse 23 see that

It speaks of REJOICING (v. 23)

Hebrews 12:22–23 (LSB)

But you have come... to myriads of angels, to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,

The word for “festal gathering” here is a Greek word that is associated with great celebrations of a people or nation—it was used in the first century to describe the Olympics, when all people came together for a grand celebration of joy and excitement (dedicated to Zeus). In our day, picture the celebrations breaking out in Times Square on VJ Day—a universal and spontaneous outbreak of joy and victorious celebration—the whole host of the angelic companies, the entire host of redeemed men and women of all the ages (the assembly of the firstborn, the spirits of the righteous made perfect) all gathering to rejoice over the victory of Christ over the curse of sin!

This is the triumphant voice of God in the atonement that you come here to hear, beloved—it speaks of freedom, it speaks of rejoicing, and

It speaks of LIFE (v. 24)

Hebrews 12:24 (LSB)

and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.

The blood of Abel cried out to God regarding the violence of his death at the hands of his brother Cain—it was blood that testified to the death-sentence that sin had brought into the world.

But the blood of Christ speaks better than the blood of Abel—the blood of Abel was the cry of suffering and death at the hands of a fallen son of Adam; the blood of Christ is the cry of victory over death by the deeds of the Last Adam!

This is the voice that you must heed, Christian—the voice of God enscripturated in His Word that speaks of His unbearable holiness and His triumphant atonement. This is the voice that the readers of this letter were beginning to neglect; they were beginning to fear everything but God and trust in anyone but Christ—and so the writer of Hebrews urges them: do not refuse

III. His inescapable voice of WARNING (Hebrews 12:25-27)

Hebrews 12:25–26 (LSB)

See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.”

There was no escape for those who disobeyed the voice of God that shook Mount Sinai—thousands fell dead when they turned away from Him to worship an idol made of gold (Exodus 32). How much more is the voice that thunders from His own dwelling in Heaven inescapable? Do not turn away from this Voice, for

It speaks of a RECKONING (v. 25-26; cp. Ex. 19:18; Ex. 32; 2 Thess. 1:7-10)

The fire of God’s holiness and the trumpet-blast of His judgment at Sinai was only a preview of the judgment that still awaits this world

2 Thessalonians 1:7–10 (LSB)

...at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, executing vengeance on those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our witness to you was believed.

If the children of Israel did not escape the wrath of God for turning away from Him at the foot of Mount Zion, how much less will we escape if we turn away from the voice of God calling us to obedience to Christ?

The voice of God’s holiness that shook Mount Sinai to its roots is the same Voice that calls you to repentance and faithfulness today. The Word of God speaks of an inescapable reckoning, and in verse 27

It speaks of a REMOVAL (v. 27;cp. Heb 1:10-12; Isa. 54:10; Rev. 20:11)

of every rival to the reign and authority of Christ:

Hebrews 12:27 (LSB)

Now this expression, “Yet once more,” indicates the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Do not be deceived, beloved—the voices clamoring so loudly around you that you place your trust in them will all be silenced one day. The grand mansion of secularism—that there need be no reference or acknowledgement of the transcendent demands of a holy and righteous God in order to build a civilization—this house is coming down; this property is condemned. Every rival institution, every rival authority, every rival savior to Christ is coming down. The only refuge that you have, Christian, your only stability in this tumbling-down world is found in heeding the voice of God in His Word with holy trembling!

Because this same voice speaks not only of the removal of all rivals to Christ,

It speaks of a REASSURANCE (cp. Isa 54:10)

of the love of God for His people! Isaiah 54:10 reassures us

Isaiah 54:10 (LSB)

“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” Says Yahweh who has compassion on you.

All of the grand institutions of our God-refusing society—politics, art, law, medicine, education—are being shaken to pieces by God’s inescapable voice of warning. The only assurance you have, Christian, is in the steadfast love of God for you in Jesus Christ! The only unshakeable reality in this falling and fading world is that God’s love for you in Christ will never fail!

So, the writer of Hebrews says to his readers, why would you want to refuse this voice that calls you? Why would you want to turn away from this triumphant voice of atonement? Why would you forsake the perfections of Christ’s work on the Cross and instead face the gloom and fear and judgment of the dreadful wrath of God on your own? His voice shakes the mountains with His unbearable glory, His voice sets the angels to dancing with the triumph of Christ’s blood, His voice warns from Heaven that all will be shaken who do not find refuge in Him.

And so how are we to respond to His voice? See it here in verse 28—we respond to the voice of God enscripturated in His word with

IV. Our ACCEPTABLE voice of WORSHIP (Hebrews 12:28-29)

Hebrews 12:28 (LSB)

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

The word for “service” here (latreia) is the Greek word that is elsewhere translated worship—our response to the voice of God revealed here in His Word is acceptable worship. We find here in these verses three characteristics of worship that is acceptable in response to the voice of God revealed in His Word.

First

We speak with GRATITUDE

See this in the structure of the sentence: “…let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God acceptable service...” When we gather in His presence in response to His voice calling us to worship, the foundational attitude of our hearts must be thankfulness to God for His work for us in Christ.

Understand here that the act of worship is, at its heart, a response to God. We worship God because of what He has done. Worship is not an activity by which we focus on our feelings or our desires—it is certainly not, as some seem to think, a way of inviting God to join us. We begin our service not with an “invitation” to God to come here—we begin with His Voice calling us through the pages of Holy Scripture to gather in His Name, at which time we express our gratitude to Him for what He has done. For the unshakeable kingdom He has promised us and for the unshakeable love He has shown us in the work of Christ we come in gratitude and thankfulness.

Because we are receiving this unshakeable kingdom we speak with gratitude in our reverent voice of worship, and see also that

We speak with REVERENCE

Hebrews 12:28 (LSB)

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence...

In light of the fearsome voice of God’s holiness that is shaking the heavens and the earth, how could we possibly come into His presence to worship with frivolity or triviality? How do we come before the God of Sinai, glory wrapped in thick gloom and thunder, the God Who spilled the blood of His own Son so as to make it possible for us to enter His presence and not be immediately consumed, and fill our mouths with inane jokes and bubblegum music and men who stand at the sacred desk of God and tickle ears with rambling, shallow chats about morality and politics garnished with a Bible verse or two like a sprig of parsley stuck into a wad of cotton candy? May the God of the thundering voice of holiness before Whom we appear have mercy on us when we act in such a way!

Our acceptable voice of worship in response to God’s Word means that we speak with gratitude, we speak with reverence, and

We speak with HUMILITY

Hebrews 12:28 (LSB)

Therefore, ...let us ...offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe;

This is the only appearance in the entire New Testament of the Greek word translated awe; and it is a word so over-used in our day that we need to understand what the author of Hebrews means when he uses it here. The word carries with it the sense of “I don’t belong here” or “I am in company far too great for me”. Picture someone taking a tour of Buckingham Palace, for instance, and through some bizarre set of circumstances they get lost and wander into King Charles’ private residence as he is sitting down to dinner with Queen Camilla! “Whoa—I am in the wrong place! I am going to be in big trouble in about thirty seconds!”

That is the idea behind the “acceptable worship with reverence and awe” that this verse is impressing on us. And so that is the question—when is the last time you entered the presence of God in worship with the deep and abiding sense that “I don’t belong here”? That there is nothing in you that has earned you the right to stand in the holiness of His presence? You will never, as long as you live, belong in the presence of God apart from the work of Christ that saves you.

There has crept into Christianity an attitude of familiarity and casual address toward God that is utterly abhorrent to the reverence and humility the Scripture calls us to, as if by our profession of faith we somehow have earned the right to be flippant or careless in the presence of Almighty God—in short, as if we somehow inherently belong there because of our embrace of Christianity.

But let us be clear—the only Man that can stand on the basis of His nature before God the Father is God the Son—and the only way you will ever belong in the presence of almighty God is if you belong to Him! You will never by your own deeds or your own moral uprightness or your own spiritual disciplines or your own innate goodness or any other way, EVER “belong” in the presence of God unless you belong by faith to Jesus Christ. You can never afford to come into the presence of almighty God in worship unless you come in Jesus Christ.

Because, Hebrews 12:29 does not say that “Our God used to be a consuming fire in the Old Testament, but now He doesn’t care how you enter His presence.” It doesn’t say “The holiness of God at one time was fatal to mortal men, but now has diminished”. The inspired author of Hebrews closes this chapter with one final exhortation of warning for his readers who are prone to refuse the voice of God and disregard the work of Jesus Christ to redeem them:

Hebrews 12:29 (LSB)

for our God is a consuming fire.

Christian, does this reality animate your worship? Do you come into His presence trembling at the holiness of His voice, do you come in response to the triumph of Christ’s victory over sin, with reverent humility and gratitude for what He has done? Or do you come here out of habit, fighting boredom, going through the motions of church attendance because it helps convince you that you are a good person compared to everyone who’s sleeping in right now? Are you coming in glad response to the voice of God calling you to worship through His Word, filling your mouth with words of acceptable worship in response to His work in your life, or are you looking for entertainment and strokes to your ego in worship, making you feel good about yourself?

And not only regarding the worship that takes place in this room—does the voice of God revealed in and through His Word animate your life outside this room? Have you been playing games with Christianity, imagining it to be nothing more than a new set of habits that you need to incorporate into your life; a new mindset that “puts God first” (whatever that means?) Is your notion of being a Christian comprised of some moral standard that you need to maintain so that when you stand before Him someday He will see that you “tried to be a good person” and “did your best”, and your good character outweighed your bad deeds? That being here this morning somehow “gives you credit” before Him?

Friend, if that is your notion of what it means to be a Christian; if that is your notion of what it means to appear in His presence for worship, then hear this word again: Our God is a consuming fire. When you stand before Him on that Last Day, everything you are, everything you ever have been and everything you have ever done will be consumed. The only thing that will remain is Christ in you. Your only hope before the unbearable holiness of the verdict of the voice of God on that Day will be whether the triumphant voice of Christ’s blood has declared you forgiven. Apart from His death on your behalf, apart from His blood shed in place of your own, you have no standing before Him, to either worship here in this world or live before Him in the next. It is only in Christ that you will stand before the voice of God.

Do not turn away from this voice; do not walk out of this sanctuary without taking sanctuary in the death of Christ on your behalf. Die in Him so that in His death you may be enrolled in the heavenly places as a member of the assembly of His redeemed people, made perfect and pure and holy in the sight of God. His voice calls to you from Heaven today; for the sake of your never-dying soul, do not refuse Him! Come—and welcome!—to Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION:

Hebrews 13:20–21 (LSB)

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus, equip you in every good thing to do His will, by doing in us what is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION:

Write down something you learned from this morning’s message that is new to you, or an insight that you had for the first time about the text? ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Write down a question that you have about the passage that you want to study further or ask for help with: ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ Write down something that you need to do in your life this week in response to what God has shown you from His Word today: ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________